College football Week 8: Schedule, Top 25 rankings, preview and more
🚍 GameDay headed to Athens
The ESPN College GameDay crew is heading to Athens, Georgia for the top-10 matchup between No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 9 Georgia.
The Bulldogs historically run this matchup, up 33-11-1 all time, but the Rebels have bested Kirby Smart's squad in two of their past three meetings in 2016 and 2024. This game is pivotal for both teams, but especially Georgia, as two home losses halfway through the season would certainly cast a gloomy cloud over Sanford Stadium.
Both teams are coming off wins, but wins that likely did not meet the standard of Smart and Lane Kiffin. Georgia posted a 20-10 win over Auburn in a game where Dawgs trailed 10-3 at half, evading a probable 17-0 deficit at the break after forcing a goal line fumble out of Jackson Arnold's hands. Smart's defense did enough in the last 30 minutes to walk out of Jordan-Hare Stadium with a 10-point win, but Georgia still doesn't seem to have found its stride yet this season.
As for the Rebels, they were riding high into Week 7, coming off a win over then-No. 4 LSU, but Kiffin's squad narrowly escaped with a 24-21 win against Washington State. Ole Miss trailed most of the first half and part of the third quarter before pulling ahead by 10 in the fourth. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss coughed up a fumble as the Cougars were able to out-possess the Rebels by over five minutes in Oxford.
Each team will certainly be making some adjustments this week given the stakes of this SEC clash, and fans should be in store for a captivating afternoon matchup.
WEEK 8: ATHENS 📍
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay)
We're headed south for at with a special live performance from and 🤩
🍿 Week 8 games to watch
We are officially over halfway through the 2025-26 college football season, and each week from here on means just a little bit more. We now sit just three three weeks away from the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, set to be revealed on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m.
The noon slate gets us started nicely with No. 10 LSU traveling up to Nashville for a date with No. 17 Vanderbilt. Each team could use a win as they both kick off a three-week stretch against ranked opponents in conference play. Meanwhile, Duke hosts No. 12 Georgia Tech in a matchup of two undefeated teams in ACC play.
The afternoon slate is dominated by the College GameDay matchup between No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 9 Georgia in Athens. The two teams have traded home wins over past two seasons, each defending their turf by at least three scores. It'll be interesting to see if we can get a close battle in the third consecutive year of this SEC matchup.
Onto the night slate, the SEC keeps fans' attention as No. 11 Tennessee heads down to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 6 Alabama in their 108th all time matchup. Same trend as UGA-Ole Miss, too — the two teams have traded home wins for the past four seasons as the Vols will look to knock of the Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time since 2003.
Also, newly ranked Southern Cal has a chance to bolster its resume while potentially destroying a rival's playoff hopes as the Trojans make the trek to South Bend for a matchup with No. 13 Notre Dame. And the Big 12 should also get a nod with undefeated No. 15 BYU hosting No. 23 Utah.
Here are the times and TV channels for some of the biggest games of the week:
*All times Eastern
📺 Week 8 TV schedule
Welcome to Week 8! Here is the Top 25 TV schedule as you prepare for a stacked weekend slate with all 25 ranked teams in action.
All times ET. Click or tap here for a live scoreboard with stats
Friday, Oct. 17
Saturday, Oct. 18
- No. 1 Ohio State at Wisconsin | 3:30 p.m. | CBS
- No. 3 Indiana vs. Michigan State | 3:30 p.m. | Peacock
- No. 4 Texas A&M at Arkansas | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN
- No. 5 Ole Miss at No. 9 Georgia | 3:30 p.m. | ABC
- No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 11 Tennessee | 7:30 p.m. | ABC
- No. 7 Texas Tech at Arizona State | 4 p.m. | FOX
- No. 8 Oregon at Rutgers | 6:30 p.m. | Big Ten Network
- No. 10 LSU at No. 17 Vanderbilt | 12 p.m. | ABC
- No. 12 Georgia Tech at Duke | 12 p.m. | ESPN
- No. 13 Notre Dame vs. No. 20 USC | 7:30 p.m. | NBC/Peacock
- No. 14 Oklahoma at South Carolina | 12:45 p.m. | SEC Network
- No. 15 BYU vs. No. 23 Utah | 8 p.m. | FOX
- No. 16 Missouri at Auburn | 7 p.m. | SEC Network
- No. 18 Virginia vs. Washington State | 6:30 p.m. | The CW Network
- No. 19 South Florida vs. Florida Atlantic | 7:30 p.m. | ESPNU
- No. 21 Texas at Kentucky | 7 p.m. | ESPN
- No. 22 Memphis at UAB | 4 p.m. | ESPN2
- No. 24 Cincinnati at Oklahoma State | 8 p.m. | ESPN2
📈 Week 8 AP Top 25 rankings
Following a tumultuous Week 7, we saw significant movement in the Week 8 AP poll. Here's how it shook out:
| RANK | SCHOOL | POINTS | RECORD | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (50) | 1631 | 6-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Miami (Fla.) (13) | 1582 | 5-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Indiana (3) | 1531 | 6-0 | 7 |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 1433 | 6-0 | 5 |
| 5 | Ole Miss | 1331 | 6-0 | 4 |
| 6 | Alabama | 1315 | 5-1 | 8 |
| 7 | Texas Tech | 1266 | 6-0 | 9 |
| 8 | Oregon | 1175 | 5-1 | 3 |
| 9 | Georgia | 1148 | 5-1 | 10 |
| 10 | LSU | 1012 | 5-1 | 11 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 939 | 5-1 | 12 |
| 12 | Georgia Tech | 904 | 6-0 | 13 |
| 13 | Notre Dame | 793 | 4-2 | 16 |
| 14 | Oklahoma | 786 | 5-1 | 6 |
| 15 | BYU | 655 | 6-0 | 18 |
| 16 | Missouri | 649 | 5-1 | 14 |
| 17 | Vanderbilt | 547 | 5-1 | 20 |
| 18 | Virginia | 521 | 5-1 | 19 |
| 19 | South Florida | 398 | 5-1 | 24 |
| 20 | USC | 361 | 5-1 | NR |
| 21 | Texas | 319 | 4-2 | NR |
| 22 | Memphis | 285 | 6-0 | 23 |
| 23 | Utah | 261 | 5-1 | NR |
| 24 | Cincinnati | 184 | 5-1 | NR |
| 25 | Nebraska | 149 | 5-1 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Illinois 113, Michigan 73, Washington 36, UNLV 30, Navy 11, Mississippi State 8, Tulane 2, San Diego State 2.
📈 Risers
Welcome to the top three, Indiana. The Hoosiers earned their highest rank in program history after a statement road win over then-No. 3 Oregon. It was Indiana's first top-5 road win ever. No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas Tech each bumped up two spots, slotting in after the Ducks and Oklahoma dropped. The Red Raiders have their second-highest rank since climbing up to No. 2 in 2008.
But the biggest jump of the week was handed to No. 19 South Florida, which jumped five spots after clobbering American conference rival North Texas, 63-36. You can also welcome Texas and Southern California back to the rankings after each picked up a win over ranked opponents.
📉 Fallers
Oklahoma earned the fall of the week, dropping from No. 6 to No. 14 following its loss in the Red River Rivalry to the Longhorns. The Sooners threw out quarterback John Mateer just three weeks post-surgery on his thumb, and the risk was not rewarded as the Washington State transfer coughed up six interceptions in the 23-6 loss.
Over in the Big Ten, Oregon dropped to No. 8 after its loss — the Ducks' lowest rank of the season as their 18-game home win streak was snapped by Curt Cignetti's squad. Michigan also dropped out of the ranks for the first time this season, falling all the way out from No. 15 after its loss to Southern Cal. Same goes for Illinois, dropping out of the top 25 from No. 17.
👉 Click or tap here for a full breakdown of the Week 8 AP poll